comment

PATERSON, N.J. – A transgender woman who wears a prosthetic penis has filed a lawsuit claiming she was accused of shoplifting in a Paterson grocery store and forced to show her private parts,
NJ.com reports
.

A security officer at the Food Fair on Market Street told the woman “I need to see what’s in your pants,” three times during the May 12, incident, the suit states, according to the story.

"In response to the officer's demands, plaintiff stated she is a female who identifies as a transgender woman and wears a prosthetic penis," the suit states, according to the article.

A female cashier ended up conducting an invasive inspection, the suit states, according to the story.

“My understanding is that (the officer) saw something in her pants, which was the prosthetic device, and thought she took something from the store and was hiding it. She didn't steal anything. She didn't touch a single thing in that store,” the woman’s attorney, Thomas A. McKinney of Morristown, told NJ.com.

McKinney said his client was born a woman and is in the process of transitioning into a man, the story says.